Beijing Sportbike Ride Reports
Hi Beijing Sportbikers,
I noticed a lot of support for the trikes and the dual sport tourers, but not much info on sportbiking in Beijing. So with that in mind I propose that we post up nice rides/routes we discover or know. I pretty much know none, but am on a mission to discover at least 5 close to town routes that can afford a quick 2-3 hour stress-busting jaunt nearly anytime. I'd also like to discover a couple longer 5-6 hour loops for days off. With that being said here is:
Short Route #1> G108
This morning I got up at 6:30am and rolled out at 7:15am. I studied a Beijing roadmap last night and saw that the G108 might be a nice, twisty road. So I decided to give her a go.
I went West on the North 4th Ring road to get there. Traffic was about average; no real heavy congestion at 7:30am. I missed the G108 exit. I wasn't worried because the G109 also offered some nice twisty riding according to my trusty tourist map. However, despite driving in Beijing for over 2 years I still managed to misread the attrocious signage and missed that one too. I took the very next exit, headed West and gassed up. I figured I'd ride out to the 5th Ring, and then backtrack a bit to get to the highway in question. As I went back on the main road, a sign told me I was back on track to the 108. Joy! Within 6 minutes I was on a semi-divided 4 lane sparsely trafficked highway with wide gentle curves. It was a good chance to test out the top of 2nd and 3rd gears. After about 7 or 8 minutes of that, I passed through a touristy area (temple of some sorts) and came to a roundabout. G108 was to the left and that was where the highway turned into a twisty, 2 lane ride through the hills. Lots of slow to medium paced turns, some with nice banking (!), a few sharpies to watch out for. The pavement itself was nice, but there was quite a bit of fine gravel and debris on the road. Nothing too upsetting, but you wouldn't want to be caught leant over too far on one of those curves. There wasn't much traffic, but expect to have to over take a car or truck every minute or so. The scenery was refreshing, lots of trees, some hilly terrain (after living in the city core, it felt like the Garden of Eden). After 20-30 minutes of nice riding I hit a construction zone and the road surface turned rough, workers all over the place. I went ahead for about 10 minutes at a slow pace before stopping for a few minutes and turning around. I'm not sure how far the construction is, but it's safe to say when it's finished the road will be wider and have a better surface. I'm also pretty sure if I continued another few kilometers the construction zone would have finished, but I had to be back in town by 10:00ish. Way back was on a downhill incline, and I came back from the 3rd ring road. Traffic was grat until the 3rd ring and it was slower going from there. I got back at 10:00am.
I didn't take any photos or GPS routes or anything. Maybe in the future I will. My next trial run is going to be the G109. Hopefully sometime early morning next week. I'll post up the results when they happen.
I'd like to encourage everyone here in Beijing to add their own 'Sportbike' friendly rides and experiences if possible. Ride safe!!!!:scooter:
